I can vouch that Marshmud gets out plenty. We guided at the same club and I even guided my last few years in his old blind. Very few people will ever experience duck hunting like we did. When you can kill limits of duck everyday (and most days specs too) of season out of the same blind it’s something special. Trust me as guides we heard about how much money this dog cost and how much training that dog has and 99.9% of time they sucked at hunting but it was a site to watch them retrieve bumpers. I’m not putting down anybody’s dog but it does take a special bond between guide and his dog to do what they have to do every day of season.

I tell you what... I've got a blind on Reelfoot so I have gotten to know a LOT of people. I hunt in Arkansas and MS all the time on private holes. People that have hunted with me on The Foot. I also hunt down near Marshmud some... I have a guy down that way I hunt with about 2 times a year. I also hunt at White Lake about every other year.

Duck Hunting in 2019 is nothing like it was 30 years ago. Nothing like it. We don't have the ducks because the 60 day seasons sealed our fate.... everyone North of us who didn't bother building and flooding wintering habitat today floods every thing they can flood. Farming is not what it use to be and some of these people make as much or more off their hunting leases. It is a big part of their income. There is so much habitat flooded north of the Mason Dixon line today you can't image the difference as compared to what was going on in the 80's and maybe through the late 90's. That's why we don't see the wintering duck numbers we use to see. I think they still get good counts on the refuges but those ducks don't leave the refuges like they use to. Hunting pressure has played a big role in that and is an secondary factor/issue here down South.

As for Dogs they are fine in a flooded field but once they start swimming I'm done with a dam dog. Forget it... you aren't hunting with me. I'm not going to stand around out there all morning listening to you yell at your dog swimming all through the decoys getting tangled up and blowing yer little whistle while I'm trying to duck hunt.

On The Foot we go get them in the boat. Most do not have a dog they are a 100% nuisance trying to swim around through 400 decoys.

Just going to put my $.02 in the mix. You don't need a dog in open water. A boat is quicker and you can shoot diving cripples. I don't hunt open water because I don't hunt without a dog.

Having very highly trained dog does not mean the dog will work for the owner. A field trial, hunt test dog will do a great job hunting for the individuals that take the time to learn how to handle the dog. Knocking the dog because the owner can't handle it is like knocking Benelli shotguns because the owner can't shoot.

Man don’t be knocking a Benelli!!!! LOL

The newest segment sheds some light on harvest locations and how the local numbers may vary while the overall harvest remain steady.
Thanks again for the heads up. Very informative talk.

I think most great “duck” dogs are essentially very good marking dogs to begin with. There is no difference in marking in a field trial vs a duck blind. Any great field dog will make a great duck dog when they realize what they are there for. No duck do will ever learn to run run a blind in a “duck blind” that’s learned in the field training. For people to say that blinds are not necessary in duck hunting situations is crazy. YES you need a whistle to send a dog on a blind retrieve but the whole purpose is to put them in the scent cone not on the duck. To think that a dog can pick up every duck from a blind and not handle is ridiculous.

You can handle a dog without blowing that irritating whistle every 30 seconds and screaming at the dog. None of me dogs ever new what a whistle was and never had a problem handling my dogs at the blind. I good dog that knows how to hunt doesn’t need at that. I never sent my dogs on long crippled birds by themselves. I always went with them. I always kept my dogs in sight or earshot. Especially if it was kinda warm. To many gators in the marsh. The biggest this is a dog needs to be able to watch everything that is going on so I always had them where they could see 360. It does help when a dog hunts the same blind everyday. That makes it a lot easier on a dog. Did they always get every bird every time. Of coarse not. If they didn’t get it, when the hunt would slow I would send them to get the missed birds. Most people that have highly trained dogs need to be highly trained to work the dog. I just gonna leave that right there.

If you have to go with your dog to pick up a bird then I rest my case. I dont give a rats ass if a bird falls out at 400 yards. That sucker will end up back in the blind in short order and my fat ass won’t do anything but stand up and make a few quick handles. The sole purpose of dog training is to recover game. It doesn’t matter if it’s hunting or trialing, the reason behind it is the same, to get the birds back as quick and efficient as possible. I hate losing birds that’s why I only bring well trained dogs to hunt over. We never lose birds at all in the rice fields and I can absolutely recover any bird with little effort as long as my dog can see me and hear the whistle. I’ve had occasions when a dog picked up a long sailing bird they never saw at such long distances that we shot into multiple volleys before they were able to get back.

You’ve never seen a well trained dog with a competent handler.....that’s an absolute damn fact.

A dog in open water is pointless. The dogs going to freeze to death trying to swim around all day and cost you birds. The point is efficiency, if the boat is a better way then that's what you should do. Dogs are used when its most efficient and to better the hunt.

As I said earlier that a well trained dog and a person that knows how to handle the dog is great to watch at a duck blind. Apparently you have never been in the marshes of SW Louisiana and must not have hunted much if you have never lost a bird. You will not see your dog much farther then 40-50yds in most areas here hence the reason I walk with my dog to get it to the area the bird fell. I would love to see you work that dog on a 400Yd crippled duck from the blind out there. Oh well I’m gonna let you have it with your world champion dog. I’ve realized that I could never ever reach your level of hunting or dog “handling”. Have a great season.

One of the best things about duck hunting is seeing a well-trained dog do its job. But the flip side of that coin is having to listen the incessant crowing and bragging about the damn dog from its owner. I don't give a chit what ribbons the dog has won or how many abbreviations you can put beside its name. Did it get the bird? Good dog.

A dog is like a hammer. Good for a specific set of circumstances. Like field hunting... that's where you want one and I enjoy not having to wade a muddy rice field going picking up the birds.

Hard to drive a deck screw with a hammer though.

Pond or pothole is probably ok..... but any kind of big Open Water = Leave dog at home.

Y’all want to talk about dogs. I have one for you. He’d pile up in a layout boat with his hunter. A big golden in fact. Doubt I’ll ever see that again.

Same guy had the first Golden to ever achieve numerous hunt test. I’m not sure if all of them but Lardy wanted Bailey on his truck but Dave didn’t cause he liked hunting Bailey too much.

I’ll dig for some pics of Tanner in the layout boat.

I know exactly what its like hunting in the marsh. I've never sent a dog on a bird past 150 yards out there and that was an open water swim. I lost a dog for 3 days around Hopedale a couple seasons ago. He got back to the grass with a gray duck in his mouth and after that I don't have a clue what happened. Knowing the dog he probably got after a nutria rat. That was shaping up to be a beatdown that morning--gray ducks were just cranking up around 9 and we had shot into back to back volleys of 25-30 and they were steady pouring in while we were looking for the dog. Ended up renting a heli out of New Orleans and found him in no time. I walked my fat ass all over that marsh looking and we burnt no telling how much gas running around by boat. That marsh is a miserable place when you have to walk it. Saw some big ass gators while we rode around those days too--I assumed he was in one of their bellies in all honesty

To clarify on the lost bird thing--I've never lost birds in the marsh when we were hunting one of my dogs. Lost plenty over some others we hunted--I haven't really hunted my dogs out there much at all though. Im not big on gators and seems live every trip ive made the temps have been in the 60's during the days so I usually dont hunt a dog. And I agree completely about the distance thing on the retrieves--my first ever hunt out there we had one sail and drop out around 100 yards in the grass to our right. We got the bird but I learned a good lesson about what not to do.
I lost sight of the dog once he got maybe 30 yards deep in the grass. That stuff is alot taller than it looks. I could see his head pop up every once in a while and was able to handle him down wind of the bird but those cripples bury up something fierce out there. Makes for some tough birds to dig out. Another thing out there is the wind--you can't appreciate how hard it can blow until you've seen it blowing good out there. The marsh is by far the toughest environment I've ever hunted when it comes to dog work. There is nothing easy about that place

I’ve found that most people that constantly beat their chest about a dog tend not to have a very good one. I haven’t ever found much to brag about on a dog while we’re hunting. They get the easiest retrieves they can hope for and don’t get challenged much at all compared to what they are put through in training. They are just doing their jobs is the way I look at it. I’m a lot more likely to get on their ass than the alternative.

Yep.

My policy is to only brag on dead dogs. May add retired dogs to the list this year.

Mark, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard you say that before lol.

I know this thread turned into a chit show, but I want to thank JayHook for putting this up. This series put on by Express is excellent. 20 episodes in all, I think. Focuses on Louisiana and Arkansas but they talk about the whole MS flyway.

First episode is here.

https://youtu.be/uW735AsYYGE